Farishta Sakhi

A native of Afghanistan, Farishta started working for the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) twenty years ago, co-founded a women’s rights NGO in Herat in the mid-2000s, consulted for several well-regarded firms and organizations (such as World Bank, USAID and EU), served in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2013-2016) at the level of Director General /Senior Advisor for Afghanistan Peace and Security Affairs and was Deputy Chief of Party for Internews in Kabul in 2017. She has also taught at the American University of Afghanistan, where she lost students in the August 2016 terrorist attack. She earned her BA in Commerce from Baluchistan University and an Executive MBA from Preston University - both in Pakistan - and a Master’s degree from Eastern Mennonite University in Virginia.  She is a PhD candidate in the School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution at George Mason University. She also remains a fellow at the International Center for Transitional Justice and is a current fellow of the Rumsfeld Foundation. She also served as a key advocate for Human Rights and Women’s Rights in Afghanistan for more than two decades.